Waiting and waiting and waiting some more...

Well, I obviously haven’t written anything lately…and that is because we are still in a holding pattern. Over the past few months, we have met with the architect – Bob who is great, worked on kitchen and bathroom designs with Erin – very nice but have not met her in person yet!, met with Fred, Al, and several other partners on a few occasions. We have drawings but they need to be revised because we were lucky enough to get an addition 5 feet of living space. That doesn’t sound like much but it really is making a huge difference in the design. We are now able to put a “super-susan” in the corner of the kitchen which was previously dead space. Also, our beloved dining room table will now fit beautifully in the space. We were worried that we would have to replace it with a square table due to the dimensions. Yes – it is just a dining room table – but it is a gorgeous dining room table that I am thrilled to be able to keep.

While we continue to obtain all of the approvals necessary to build in the city of Pittsburgh (who knew there were so many obstacles!) Jeff and I continue to work on our list of items that we need for the house. We made tremendous headway over the past weekend. We compiled a list of items, brands, model numbers, and where to procure them. The list is long but we keep thinking of new items. Everything from a doorbell, bathroom exhaust fans, register covers, faucets, drawer hardware, etc. These are things I have never really thought about before and never realized the amount of choices available.

Hopefully in the next couple weeks, we will begin to see progress – namely DIGGING. We are keeping our fingers crossed that there is some movement before the end of the year.

Some Famous Residents of Allegheny City (The North Side)

Charles Avery Aided the escape of slaves from the South to Canada in the Underground Railroad.
Eben M. Byers - Steel manufacturer and sportsman
Willa Cather -Author
George W. G. Ferris - Inventor of the Ferris Wheel
Henry J. Heinz – Pickling and Condiment Manufacturer

Henry Kleber - Musician, Teacher, and Composer
Samuel Pierpont Langley - Astronomer
Father Suitbert Mollinger – Priest of Troy Hill
Mary Roberts Rinehart - Author
Charles Taze Russell – Founded Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pittsburgh
Gertrude Stein – Author
Mary Cassatt – Painter
Martha Graham – Dancer and Choeographer,

A Little Bit about Deutschtown

Deutschtown, also known as East Allegheny, holds the title of the second closest area to Downtown right behind the North Shore. The area was originally called Allegheny City when German immigrants settled this area in the early 19th century. An influx of Croatians soon followed. In 1907, Allegheny City was annexed to Pittsburgh, much to the displeasure of most of its residents. During its heyday, 3 story Victorian business buildings, which are still there, contained essential retail outlets such as banks, movie theaters, clothing stores, taverns, etc. The movie theater is gone, but many businesses still thrive in this area and many more are on the way. Some of the newest bright spots for dining on or near East Ohio Street are Serendipity, Rita’s Italian Ice, Bistro to Go, Priory Fine Pastries, and Amani Coffee House. A few of the established businesses that are gems of the city are Legends of the North Shore (http://www.legendsnorthshore.com/), Max’s Allegheny Tavern (http://www.maxsalleghenytavern.com/), and the Park House (Over 100 years old!). Other indispensable businesses include Banks (Citizens, ESB, Huntington just to name a few), Cleaners (Olde Towne Laundry will do your laundry for you for only .90 cents per pound!) Groceries, Liquor/Beer Stores, Barbershops, Beauty Salons, Insurance Agencies, Hardware Stores, Car Services, Real Estate Agencies, Flower Shops, Photography Services, even a European Style hotel - The Priory (http://www.thepriory.com/). Should you require medical attention; Allegheny General Hospital as well as doctors, dentists, pharmacies, and chiropractors are located within the community. Beautiful Cedar Street inWest Deutschtown boarders Allegheny Commons Park which consists of 84 acres of lush park space that stretches all the way to Allegheny West. The park boasts tree lined walking areas, a pool, monuments, kayaking on Lake Elizabeth, and a fantastic Farmer’s Market held on Fridays throughout the growing season. The Aviary, The Children’s Museum, The Hazlett Theater, and so much more are located in or around Deutschtown. There are just too many places to mention so you should check out Deutschtown’s very own website to see all the great assets located in this up and coming neighborhood. http://www.deutschtown.org/index.html This is only part of what makes this area such a gem.

Let the Building Begin!

After searching for the house of our dreams for over 1 and 1/2 years, Jeff and I have decided to build our own. Our requirements seemed reasonable (to us) – solid, old, well maintained, built-ins, hardwood floors, charm, character, “walkability”, and it must be in the City of Pittsburgh. We thought, “this should be easy…right?” We looked in Squirrel Hill, Highland Park, Morningside, East Liberty, Friendship, East Allegheny (Deutschtown), Central North Side (Mexican War Streets), Allegheny West, and Manchester. The houses we looked at varied from – too big, too small, too much work to do, too much work to redo, neighbors with mattresses on their porch, too expensive, bad parking, too much outdoor space, no outdoor space, smells bad, looks bad, taxes too high!, etc. We actually made offers on three homes:

Highland Park – Outbid by a third party!
Mexican War Streets – Phew, glad they didn’t accept our offer.
Morningside – Entered a bidding war – WON! But then the house was sold out from under our noses…(it’s a long story that I don’t want to get into)

We had just about given up. Every real estate agent in Pittsburgh knew us and we still couldn’t procure a home. The Cork Factory looked really appealing at this point…apartment living is great…right? Guess what – the Cork Factory is FULL TOO!!!

Fast forward a few months. I believe I owe a “shout out” to my friends Bob (The General), Pat, Donald R, and Bob for helping me out without them even knowing it. We met at Penn Brewery one night for a beer. After leaving, I decided to take a drive through Deutschtown. We had looked at houses near the Priory (Too Big, Bad Parking), we envied the owners of the homes being restored along Cedar (Too Big, Too Expensive), and we just never really found anything in this area that looked like a possibility. As I drove around, I noticed the cutest house with brown paper in the windows. I parked my car and took a closer look. It was a moderately sized house (good!), with a beautiful restored brick façade (really good!), a deck off the second floor overlooking the city! (OMG!), and PARKING!! I had to find out about this house. I dropped my business card in the mailbox with a note on the back asking – “is this house for sale? Please call me!” (Hey, people in New York read the obituaries to find an apartment…sometimes you have to be creative). The very next day, Rege Fate called me (Thanks Rege!!). No – the house was not for sale BUT! He would pass my business card on to Al DePasquale of October Development (http://octoberdevelopment.com/index.html) – the developer who rehabbed his house.
The rest, as they say, is history. We met with Al several times and immediately hit is off. He took us through a town home on James Street that he built in conjunction with the URA, East Allegheny Community Council, and the North Side Leadership Conference. He took us through a home he rehabbed for himself, which he was selling (Too Big, Too Expensive, Bad Parking), that was stunningly beautiful. We walked through the neighborhood and he told us about other homes he had worked on, the new people moving into the area, the homes being rehabbed on Cedar Street, the vibe, and the tax abatement (more on that later). Not only is Al a talented developer, he is a great salesman. We were sold. The original plan was to buy a town home on Suissmon Street near Max’s Allegheny Tavern (Walkability at its finest!) It turns out that that development is too far in the future for us so we were offered the corner lot of James Street Phase II on the 1300 block of James Street. The home will be a three story, brick and wood home, with a nice size courtyard (No Grass!), Off Street Parking (Oh Yeah!), a roof top deck with an amazing view of Pittsburgh (Are you kidding me?), an open floor plan (this is too good to be true), and A-Mansard-Roof (w00t!)